Improved powder for polishing



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW HAMILTON, OF BROAD BROOK, CONNECTICUT, AND JAMES DE GRAY, OFBROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED POWDER FOR POLISHING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,578, datedOctober'24, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'we, ANDREW HAMILTON, of Broad Brook, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, and JAMES DE GRAY, of the city ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented anew anduseful Improvementin Polishing and Tooth Powders; and we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

The dust or powder which is produced in the manufacture of articles frommother-0t pearl has heretofore been considered useless and has beenthrown away by the manufacturers. We have discovered that this dust orpowder, which we will term in this specification pearl-powder, is a verysuperior polishing material for silver and other metals and materials,and that when mixed with whiting and other materialsit makes anexcellent toothpowder; and our invention, which is based upon thisdiscovery, consists in the preparation and use of the pearl-powder forthe above purposes, either alone or mixed with whiting.

The pearl-powder should have all coarse, gritty particles extracted fromit either by sifting, blowing, or other means. The said powder, as wellas being obtained by the usual process of manufacturing mother-of-pearlarticles, may be obtained by grinding up the small waste pieces ofmother-of-pearl in a suitable mill and sifting the fine from the coarseparticles.

For the purpose of polishing metals or other materials we use thepearl-powder alone or mix with it a suitable proportion of whiting. Wefind that on the addition of about ten per cent, by weight, of whitingto the pearl-powder the polishing quality is much improved by thepropertywhichwhiting has ofabsorbing grease.

This polishing-powder may be used in the same manner as other polishing-powders, either in a wet or dry state; or the polishing process may becommenced by using it in a wet state and finished by using it dry.

An excellent tooth-powder may be made as follows: Take of pearl-powder,twenty (20) pounds; whiting, twenty (20) pounds; pulverized sugar, one(1) pound; orris root, two (2) pounds; tannin, one (1) ounce; oil ofcassia, one (1) ounce; oil of bergamot, one (1) ounce; oil ofwinter-green, two (2) ounces. Mix and triturate the whole well together.This powder is used for cleaning the teeth in the same manner as othertooth-powders.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The preparation and use of pearl-powder for polishing purposes,substantially as herein described.

2. A mixture composed of pearl-powder and whiting, either with orwithout other substances, substantially as herein described,,for thepurpose of polishing metals or other materials or cleaning the teeth.

ANDREW HAMILTON. JAMES DE GRAY. Witnesses HENRY T. BROWN, J. W. OooMBs.

